Ohioans Against Common Core Make Standards a Primary Election Issue

15 Apr 2014

A group of Ohio grassroots activists who want the Common Core standards repealed in their state is taking the issue to their legislators and letting them know that if they want to be re-elected, they must commit to repealing the centralized education standards.

A Columbus auditorium packed in 600 Ohioans on April 9 as parents, teachers, and other activists fighting to repeal the Common Core standards held Common Core 101: “Bring Your Legislator to Class Day.”

Ohioans Against Common Coreassert that nearly four years after their state adopted the Common Core standards, most Ohio lawmakers still know little about the initiative beyond prepared talking points. Parents were urged to call their state representatives and senators and attend the forum with them to hear and discuss the ramifications of the Common Core standards.

“The event was intended to offer our elected representatives a last opportunity to learn what Common Core is really all about,” Heidi Huber, leader and founder of Ohioans Against Common Core, told Breitbart News. “Nearly four years after adopting the most radical change in American education in our lifetime, the vast majority of Ohio legislators are still in the dark. We’ve reached the point that their willful ignorance will be deemed complicity. Plausible deniability has expired.”

Huber said that a recent Ohio poll identified Common Core as the number one issue in the state primary elections.

“Our Senate president is scrambling and has warned his caucus,” she said. “A desperate Ohio Republican Party is sending misleading candidate materials in response to our grassroots communications of the RNC’s Resolution condemning Common Core.”

“Why would any Ohio Republican candidate be to the left of the RNC and support the nationalization of education?” Huber asked. “Republicans purport to trust citizens, not bureaucrats.”

Huber predicts that parents will be the change agents in this year’s primary elections.

“Make sure you’re registered and know which candidates support repealing Common Core,” she urges. “Don’t be misled by their false claims to support local and parental control. If a candidate wants your vote, they should clearly articulate their condemnation of Common Core, period.”

Thea Shoemake, another Ohio event organizer, told Breitbart News that what struck many attendees was that the audience barely moved during the presentations by the experts.

Education expert Jamie Gass told Breitbart News that Huber and Shoemake are “two Ohio moms who deserve a ton of credit for continuing to educate state legislators and the public about what Common Core’s poor academic quality, illegality, and cost will mean for students and families in Ohio.”

The magnitude of the Common Core issue is making its presence felt in the Ohio House 24th District where incumbent Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard), who was elected in 2012 after receiving over $650,000 in support from the Ohio Republican Party (ORP), is being promoted once again. This time, however, Kunze is being challenged by Clintonville architect Pat Manley, primarily over the Common Core standards, and the race is setting up as one between an establishment Republican incumbent versus a grassroots candidate who is more in touch with the people.

According to mediatrackers.org, Kunze, who sits on the state House Education Committee, is “highly unlikely” to take a stand against Common Core, and has not co-sponsored House Bill 237, the Common Core repeal bill introduced by state Rep. Andy Thompson (R-Marietta) last July.

Promotional materials for Kunze, who is supported by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), contain the phrase, “Stephanie Kunze is keeping parents and our community in charge of our schools,” but no mention is given to the Common Core standards. Similarly, Kunze’s campaign website does not refer to Common Core.

As Breitbart News has reported, the diversionary tactic among establishment political candidates of making a statement about keeping Washington out of local school districts, without taking a stand on Common Core, is becoming increasingly noticed at both the state and federal levels.